Influence of permanent raised bed planting and residue management on physical and chemical soil quality in rain fed maize/wheat systems

Abstract

Densely populated, intensively cropped highland areas in the tropics and subtropics are prone to erosion and declining soil fertility, making agriculture unsustainable. Conservation agriculture in its version of permanent raised bed planting with crop residue retention has been proposed as an alternative wheat production system for this agro-ecological zone. A five years field experiment comparing permanent and tilled raised beds with different residue management under rainfed conditions was started at El Batá n (Mexico) (2,240 m asl; 19.31°N, 98.50°W; Cumulic Phaeozem) in 1999. The objective of this study was to determine the soil quality status after five years of different management practices. The K concentration was 1.65 times and 1.43 times larger in the 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm profiles, respectively, for permanent raised beds compared to conventionally tilled raised beds. The Na concentration showed the opposite trend. Sodicity was highest for conventionally tilled raised beds and for permanent raised beds it increased with decreasing amounts of residue retained on the surface. Permanent raised beds with full residue retention increased soil organic matter content 1.4 times in the 0-5 cm layer compared to conventionally tilled raised beds with straw incorporated and it increased significantly with increasing amounts of residue retained on the soil surface for permanent raised beds. Soil from permanent raised beds with full residue retention had significantly higher mean weight diameter for wet and dry sieving compared to conventionally tilled raised beds. Permanent raised beds with full residue retention had significantly higher aggregate stability compared to those with residue removal. A lower aggregation resulted in a reduction of infiltration. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using these soil physicochemical variables that were significantly influenced by tillage or residue management. The PC1 and PC2 separated the conventionally tilled raised beds from the permanent raised beds and PC3 separated permanent raised beds with at least partial residue retention from permanent raised beds with no residue retention. These clear separations suggest that tillage and residue management have an effect on

Conservation Agriculture and Soil Quality– An Overview

“…Moreover, the chelating of these nutrients with organic matter in non-disturbed soil leads the improvement of soil nutrient status in different soil depths (Borie et al, 2006;Singh et al, 2014) and thus causes enhancement of soil NPK status. The similar findings of enhancement in available nutrients due to CA practices in soil were also reported by Graham et al, 2002;Borie et al, 2006 andWang et al, 2008 for N;Malhi et al, 2011for P and Du Preez et al, 2001and Govaerts et al, 2007 for K. The enhancement in available NPK status due to ZT and PB practices was also reported by Parihar et al, 2011. Most research reported that tillage practices does not affect extractable Ca and Mg levels of soil (Govaerts et al, 2007;Duiker and Beegle, 2006) primerily in the condition where CEC is associated with clay particles (Duiker and Beegle, 2006).…”

“…According to Govaerts et al, 2007 PB had 1.65 and 1.43 times higher concentration of K in the 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm respectively, than CT. Ismail et al, 1994 also reported higher extractable K levels at the soil surface with ZT as tillage intensity decreased. Du Preez et al, 2001 observed increased levels of K in ZT compared to CT, but this effect declined with depth.…”

“…Du Preez et al, 2001 observed increased levels of K in ZT compared to CT, but this effect declined with depth. Govaerts et al, 2007 found that the K concentration in both the 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm soil layers increased significantly with increasing residue retention under PB planting compared to CT. No effect of crop rotation on K concentrations was observed by Roldan et al, 2007. However, Yadav et al, 2016 reported that after seven years of CA the highest amount of N, P and K (219.8, 24.9 and 203.1 kg ha -1 ) in 0-15 cm soil surface was recorded under PB planting while minimum amount of available N, P and K were observed under CT.…”

“…Govaerts et al 2007 reported that the mean weight diameter and stability of soil aggregates was significantly higher with residue retention and decreased with decreasing amounts of residues under rainfed PB planting system at subtropical highlands of Mexico. Similarly, Wang et al 2015 from China, also reported the beneficial effect of residue management under semi-arid climate where the practice of residue retention significantly increased mean weight diameter and stability of soil aggregates in the magnitude of 16.1-40.3%, 10.1-36.0%, 11.0-36.3% compared to residue removal in 0-10, 10-20, 20-30 cm soil depth, respectively.…”

Reply of mulch systems on weeds and yield components in potatoes

“…During the vegetation period when the main grown crop does not protect the soil surface from the effects of intense rainfall, we can use protective functions of intercrops and crop residues left on the soil surface (Novák et al 2011) or mulch applied to the soil surface. Mulching in this manner can influence the physical and chemical properties of the soil (Govaerts et al 2007) and improve soil nitrogen availability, which supports plant growth (Fang et al 2011).…”